First arrest made in Harrison County shoplifting, pursuit

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A 25-year-old homeless man of Parkersburg faces up to 20 years in prison following a police pursuit in Harrison County Wednesday.

Zac Blaine Wilson is charged with fleeing with reckless indifference, fleeing causing bodily injury and destruction of property, according to a criminal complaint filed in Harrison County Magistrate Court.

Clarksburg Police Department responded to a shoplifting incident at Kohl’s at the EastPointe Shopping Center in Clarksburg, when the complainant advised officers that the suspects stole items from the store and fled toward McDonald’s in a Hyundai Sonata, Patrolman B.P. Levine said in the criminal complaint.

Levine spotted the vehicle near West Union Bank and attempted to stop the vehicle. The suspects then fled through the bank parking lot and onto Emily Drive.

The Sonata failed to stop for multiple stop lights, swerved around vehicles and passed into oncoming traffic while traveling in excess of 60 miles per hour, the complaint said.

The vehicle was exceeding 100 mph by the time the pursuit reached U.S. 50.

When the Sonata approached the turn near the Bridgeport Municipal Building, the driver lost control of the vehicle, striking a curb and a tree before colliding with a Bridgeport Police Department cruiser, at which time Wilson fled the vehicle into the woods.

Wilson was taken into custody following a police pursuit with the combined efforts of Bridgeport and Clarksburg Police Departments.

The Bridgeport officer inside of the cruiser was transported to United Hospital Center with non-life threatening injuries. Damage to the cruiser is estimated over $2,500.

Two other suspects involved in the shoplifting and pursuit have not yet been charged.